Blending pharmacy and nursing for maximum reach

Ali Moballegh, PharmD, BSN, RN, is a pharmacist and an Aggie nurse.

Currently enrolled in the Texas A&M University College of Nursing’s Master of Science in Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner program, Moballegh is not changing his career—far from it. He currently works as a pharmacist for Baylor Scott & White’s outpatient pharmacy and hopes to enhance his practice with his nursing master’s degree.

“I felt that I was underutilizing my pharmacy degree as a pharmacist only,” Moballegh said. “I want to use my knowledge as a pharmacist to be able to diagnose and prescribe. I want to expand and utilize my pharmacy degree and knowledge to the maximum.”

After earning his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Houston in 2021, Moballegh returned to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing via its accelerated nursing program. He then moved to Georgetown, Texas, where he briefly worked as a medical-surgical nurse at Baylor Scott & White in Round Rock and discovered an interest in primary care. This inspired him to pursue the family nurse practitioner program at Texas A&M. Having only worked as a pharmacist up until that point, Moballegh also gained a newfound respect for the strenuous requirements of nurses.

“You have to be completely selfless and sacrifice a lot for your patients,” Moballegh said. “While pharmacy is very stressful sometimes, it’s easier to have a balance between your life and your work. As a pharmacist, you need to memorize a lot of things. But as a nurse, you need to develop a lot of hands-on skills. I greatly appreciate what nurses do. They are angels, and not everybody can do the job.”

Moballegh said that going through the MSN-Family Nurse Practitioner program—which is delivered online with some in-person clinical requirements—as a working pharmacist has been challenging. But it also comes with its advantages. While many nursing students find pharmacology to be one of the toughest courses, for Moballegh, it was simply the work does every day.

Moballegh is still considering how his nursing journey will develop, but he has a vision for what his career might look like after he graduates in spring 2026. He plans to continue working as a pharmacist in the Austin area and begin working as a family nurse practitioner. He could even see himself returning to school to get his Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

A little further down the line, Moballegh hopes to use his nursing and pharmacy degrees under one roof in a practice of his own serving rural areas.

“I’d love to start a local clinic that makes health care easily accessible for people who are underserved,” Moballegh said. “I’d include pharmacy services and provide treatment for non-serious issues like a sore throat. If people don’t have access or insurance and they cannot afford a copay, they just ignore things, and it can cause complications. if they have something affordable and accessible, we can prevent these complications.”

Whatever is in the cards for Moballegh after graduation, he’s eager to expand his reach with MSN credentials in hand and believes becoming an Aggie nurse was the right choice.

“I have enjoyed being a Texas A&M student,” Moballegh said. “It’s been the perfect fit and has made it possible for me to continue working full time while getting my master’s. I’ve loved the curriculum and the faculty. I’ve experienced many universities, but I think I can say Texas A&M is the best I’ve had.”